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This is more of a theory question but I've read in a few places now that MacPherson struts require an anti roll bar because it triangulates the control arms or some other obscure reason. Would somebody be able to explain in laymen's terms what the function of the rollbar on a MacPherson strut is? I'm curious because I've taken mine out of my Scirocco and actually like the handling better without it.
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Feb 18, 2015 21:55
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Uthor posted:Basically, the anti roll bar connects the two wheels together. When you go over a bump, both wheels move up and down together and the bar just moves with them. When you go around a corner, the wheels move in opposite directions as the car turns, causing the bar to twist, which acts like a spring to counteract the rolling of the body. That's kind of what I figured. Just wanted to confirm that I wasn't missing something by not having it on anymore.
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Feb 19, 2015 00:33
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Geirskogul posted:Is that kind of like the super beetle's front sway bar? Yeah that looks like what Neptr described. Thanks Neptr, that makes perfect sense now how you described it.
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Feb 19, 2015 01:36
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It could be that the shop just conviently forgot to remove the core charge for the cats. That would go a long way to explaining the markup.
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Feb 19, 2015 21:34
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Farmer Crack-rear end posted:How long can tires last in terms of time? I bought a 97 LeSabre recently that hadn't been driven much in the last several years, and based on what the previous owner told me, I think these tires are at least six years old. I think 5 years is typically the rule of thumb. I've driven on some 7 year old winters before in the summertime and it wasn't the worst thing in the world. There would probably be a noticeable change in grip if you went to new tires though.
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Feb 25, 2015 23:06
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smackfu posted:120k miles, may never have been flushed? So probably the second one. Probably worth checking the fluid level on the transmission to see if its the first. Do you know what the fluid looked like when it came out?
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Feb 26, 2015 20:42
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The Royal Nonesuch posted:School me on exhausts, I've never worked with 'em before: Exhaust is the one thing I don't gently caress around with. After parts fell off for the 5th or so time I gave up on a shop and took it to a shop to weld the whole thing up. The problems with clamps is that they loosen over time and will basically wiggle free. If you aren't offroading your jeep it probably is something you can get away with though. Clamping and installing is pretty easy so long as the stuff is specific to your car. where you run into trouble is trying to mate a 2 inch fitting to a 2.25 one or poo poo like that. Regarding the cat, waste of time replacing in my opinion. When I took mine off my scirocco it had maybe 3 of the little passages plugged after 30 years. If you're looking for that last little bit of performance out of the vehicle it might be worth taking a look at your current one to see its state. I fully removed my cat and there wasn't a real noticeable increase in performance. Tony quidprano fucked around with this message at 05:18 on Feb 27, 2015 |
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Feb 27, 2015 05:15
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Bajaha posted:This sounds like someone bought a bmw because of the badge on the front and the perceived "prestige" that comes with it, without actually considering what your getting into. Pretty much this. Find the cheapest transmission possible and get out while you can.
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Feb 27, 2015 17:27
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115 isn't unheard of for auto transmission failure. Especially if its the car has been thrashed about, which something is something BMW drivers have a habit of doing.
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Feb 27, 2015 18:39
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The whole lifetime fluids thing basically boils down to the manufacturer saying "there is acceptable wear over x years/miles" if we don't change the fluid. I don't think there is any inherent benefit in sticking with that beyond cost savings. The Mk1 VWs had lifetime fluids for the manual transmission. You can't find one without rough syncros or a chipped reverse gear which I strongly suspect is tied in with that.
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Feb 27, 2015 19:45
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Slavvy posted:This could apply to pretty much any manual trans though. Autos are a different ball game entirely. Most danuals can last practically forever without changing the oil (performancy cars excepted). Yeah it was more of an example of lifetime fluids not being lifetime fluids. I'm actually surprised they offer lifetime on autos, that really seems sketchy.
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Feb 27, 2015 20:25
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Based on the high idle and the IAC being the last thing you did I'd start a there and move backwards through the wiring.
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Feb 28, 2015 00:32
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Senior Funkenstien posted:Alright I swapped in the old IAC. Starts and runs but still high idle and when it starts going down to normal idle it keeps going down till it stalls. I cant find anything burned out wire wise unless its somewhere I cant see. My second guess would be a vacuum hose burning on something. Beyond that I'm not too sure what would cause a high idle and burning plastic smell. Have you checked the exhaust manifolds to see if a wire burnt onto them? could possibly be oxygen sensor wire
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Feb 28, 2015 02:16
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People do it on autos because they like to think they're some sort of racing driver. But as Slavvy pointed out most people just ride the brake because they don't have a good feel for it.
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Mar 5, 2015 00:54
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InitialDave posted:Left-foot braking a FWD car is a pretty drat useful technique. On a race track maybe, in which case that explains the brake problem.
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Mar 5, 2015 01:22
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Does anybody know any aftermarket floormats that aren't complete garbage? Last one gave me a solid year of service before the carpetting by my heel gave way and exposed plastic, which then just collected water when it was wet out and iced up in winter. Replacement one won't stay in place at all, to the point where I redlined the engine while shifting. the plastic nubs seem shallow as gently caress.
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Mar 5, 2015 05:19
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Etrips posted:I need help in locating where my horn is on my car. I have tried Googling without much success as all the image diagrams I come across are not for my car / year model. I am attempting to figure out why my horn isn't working. The fuse relay is still clicking and the 15A fuse does not look like it is blown, but I have a multimeter coming in on Friday to make sure. Last thing I can think of is the connections to the actual horn is loose. Engine bay, I think newer cars tend to mount them in the area between the grill and the radiator, but to be honest I've never had to find one. Could be your steering wheel as well, that's what went wrong on mine. Got some great looks when my horn started blaring every time I had to turn or change lanes.
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Mar 5, 2015 05:33
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Are the rear tires frozen in place? Usually you can get some sort of movement out of the car but if its not moving at all I'm inclined to think something is holding it in place.
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Mar 5, 2015 17:17
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Geoj posted:Shift into the highest gear the transmission will allow you to select from a stop and push the gas pedal like it's a newborn puppy under your foot. Not going to help if he has to reverse out. I'd honestly just keep feeding gravel under the tires till it lifts the car out.
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Mar 5, 2015 17:26
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You pretty much have to dismantle the entire interior, clean everything, put it all back together and ride with the windows down for six months. Other smokers give me crazy looks when I say they can't smoke in my car. But that smell of stale smoke its noxious and impossible to get rid of. Little bits of ash always end up everywhere. Always found it odd that I've never er gotten another smoker to acknowledge that smoke smells awful and stale smoke ranks up there with vomit in terms of awful smells.
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Mar 7, 2015 21:35
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I'm pretty sure its the floor mat at this point and I've got no clue how this would happen anyways but I thought I'd ask. Is there anyways you could experience runaway acceleration on a N/A car with a physical throttle cable? I'm fairly certain the floor mat is slipping with the gravel under it and doing something with the throttle pedal. Its had it happen like 3 times in the past month and it goes away as soon as I hit the brakes, so its never done this for more than a second. My whole thing is if the spring on the throttle body failed it would just stay open since there's no way the engine creates enough of a vacuum to force the throttle body open.
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Mar 11, 2015 03:00
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That car sounds like a lemon. You've pretty much replaced the entire front suspension on a nine year old car. Unless you're taking it to track days there's no reason you should be going through brakes and tires like that. Control arms triangulate the wheels so that could be behind some of the harshness in handling. I'd question why they weren't replaced while the bushings were done though if its that bad.
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Mar 11, 2015 16:37
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Stupid question here: Been driving my "new" van (86 GMC Safari) around a few days, I've notice in addition to the usual warning symbols on the control panel there is also this:  I know its the choke symbol but I've got no clue what its function is on my van since to my knowledge it doesn't have any choke you could operate. The owner's manual says nothing about it. Any ideas what purpose it would serve?
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Apr 28, 2015 01:36
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22 Eargesplitten posted:The engine bay and drivetrain has always been kind of a black box to me. I perform the rituals as mandated by the holy user's manual, satisfy it with blood sacrifice, and speak over it the curse words of power. But I don't really get more than the absolute basics of what goes where and which part does what. I don't have a spare car to make mistakes on, what should I read? Bosch Automotive Handbook is a good resource but its kind of dry, it does a good job of explaining everything's purpose though. Probably not what you want to hear but what taught me was owning a shitbox that was easy to repair. I kind of understood basic stuff before I got my Scirocco but like you said the engine was still a mystery box. But after a year of diagnosing, repairing PO fuckery, tearing down and putting back together an engine everything just seemed to click after that.
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Apr 28, 2015 03:33
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Sweevo posted:Or possibly they used an instrument cluster from another model which has a choke, and if your van doesn't then it's just an unused light that isn't connected to anything. Took a second look and given that there is also an upshift light on an automatic transmission I'm going with this theory. Probably left over from the model years that had carbs instead of TBI.
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Apr 28, 2015 16:44
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spog posted:Do you have carbs or EFI? Throttle body injection. Carbs were used in years prior but not my year which would sort of explain why its still on the dash but my manual makes no mention of it. As you said it really doesn't matter so long as it works, which it does. Was just sort of curious.
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Apr 28, 2015 18:14
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Power Player posted:I want to learn how to drive stick. I know no one who drives a stick. Try and buy a real shitkicker for like $300. Drive it for two months and take it to the junkyard when you're done.
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Apr 29, 2015 17:33
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EightBit posted:[*]If you're panic braking, at least push in the clutch. Your brakes are more predictable and smooth than an engine winding down to idle. Especially if you have ABS.
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Apr 29, 2015 19:10
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If you have hydraulic lifters one of them could be leaking or you could have low oil pressure. Make sure its topped up on oil, once it warms up it may stop tapping if its not as severe.
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May 2, 2015 18:11
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What's the weight rating for the tires? That could help you figure out if you're overloading them.
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May 7, 2015 21:01
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Speaking of shittt audio set ups. The VW's stereo is hard soldered in. Is there a cheap generic adapter I can buy so if I ever want to take the radio out I'm not soldering a new one directly into the car again?
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May 28, 2015 15:45
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Uthor posted:What car? 84 VW scirocco. To my knowledge no adapter exists, I haven't looked at it per say but my assumption would be that its hardwired in with no wiring harness adapter.
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May 28, 2015 17:04
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I'm looking to charge my Kart battery at the track but don't want to start dropping money on a generator. Would I be able to get away with using one of those portable jumper packs or do I need to look into something more specialized?
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May 28, 2015 22:12
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What's the best DOT 4 brake fluid avaliable in north america?
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Jul 3, 2015 04:47
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scuz posted:Did a compression test when trying to figure whether it was the rings or something else. PSI per cylinder is exactly where the Bentley manual says it should be. My guess is valve stem seals, which could also mean bent valves. I won't know until I get the head off and I need like a pile of money to buy the tools before I start in on that. Bent valves would almost certainly affect compression, so if you're within spec on that you luckily can rule that out. Rotella synth stuff does help a shitload with valve stuff. I had a small valve tap switched to 0w-40 Rotella now and you hear it maybe for all of 2 second on start up in -30C weather.
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Sep 25, 2015 05:00
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Something that would fit your bill would be an Opel Kadett B. It's a cheap run of the mill 4 cyl sedan that's somewhat fashionable and had endless performance variations so its not unbelievable that somebody would be able to cobble together a half decent performance model on a dime. Also watch Bullitt. That film will tell you everything you need to know about 1960s car chases. Edit: its not a sedan but the Ford Capri. Tony quidprano fucked around with this message at 05:58 on Nov 27, 2015 |
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Nov 27, 2015 05:53
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No clue but I'm shocked that an 80s Lada has a hydraulic clutch.
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Dec 29, 2015 01:06
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scuz posted:Is it OK to buy used tires? I hope so, I'm poor and need new ones. I mean there's nothing wrong with it but unless they're already on rims or significantly cheaper than new its not worth the risk of finding out one of them is hosed. If you really take your time to look over every inch of every tire and still understand the risk that they could be hosed then its fine.
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Jul 26, 2016 22:04
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IOwnCalculus posted:Slight counterpoint to this: do you replace the tires the second you buy a used car? If not, you've bought used tires and probably spent less time worrying about them then, than you would if you bought them on their own transaction. The problem for me is that the list of reasons people are selling tires without rims and there's no issue with them is pretty small. If scuz is buying them as a set of tire and rim I'd be less concerned. Having said that I've spent zero dollars on tires for karting and just pick up ones other people throw away, so I don't really inherently object to the concept of used tires.
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Jul 26, 2016 23:06
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The Door Frame posted:So it's not an overheating piece of poo poo with awful handling? My dad brought up the Nader thing when I asked him, but he also said they were prone to huge mechanical failures. According to Wikipedia, almost 1.8 million of these things were produced, so did people just collectively decide to not acknowledge them anymore? They were overly complicated pieces compared to GM's other offerings. Chances are if you fancied buying some air cooled rear engine goodness you would take the more tried and tested route of getting something German, and if you fancied Chevy there are a million better options that are more representative of that marque from that time period. It's pretty much a case of right product, wrong company/time and there are plenty of examples of those kinds of cars that have fallen out of the public consciousness.
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Aug 24, 2016 20:38
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